Family of God: Re: [FamilyofGod] Simple Thoughts On Promises- 102

SOUNDING OUT:	Independence
UPCOMING EVENTS:	Ft Campbell Weekend in the Word Weekend in the Word on the Waves, FL Day in the Word, MI Family Reunion, OH Family Camp, IL Christian Music Festival, CA
HUMOR OF THE DAY:	Comforting
JOYFUL 'TOONS:	Church Tea Party
POEM OF THE DAY:	New School Prayer
STRONG FAMILIES STRONG PEOPLE:	Tips from Cathy Reichel
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT:	Declaration of Dependence

SOUNDING OUT:
Independence

The first Continental Congress met in Carpenters' Hall, located in Philadelphia, in 1774 "to consult upon the present unhappy state of the Colonies." The unhappy state was induced, in part, by Britain's passage of the "intolerable Acts" that punished Massachusetts after the Boston Tea Party. The dependency on Britain, coupled with the will and capacities of the Colonies wholly at the service of Britain did much to add to the unhappy state.

The colonists lacked their freedom and desired liberation from those they were compelled to serve. Independence, freedom and the power to choose what one does or says, true liberty, was what the colonists were seeking. Our American Revolution was our declaration that we would no longer be in servitude to anyone or any country.

Being a servant or slave, surrendering our wills and capacities to the service of others is associated with the lowest scale of servitude, but when transferred to Christian service it expresses the highest devotion of one who is bound by love.

This produces quite a paradox. My five senses tell me that submission and a confession that someone or something is Lord in my life, I then become a servant and release my liberty and freedom. God however says the opposite. When we submit our lives to God in service and make Jesus Christ our Lord, we become free.

Romans 10:9,10:
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
¹⁰ For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Interesting isn't it that verse 10 contains the heart and mouth.

Matthew 12:34:
O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.

When we are truly convinced that God's word is real and true and make Jesus Christ our Lord, we are saved, made whole and set free.

Galatians 5:1:
Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage

Christ has made us free.

John 8:36:
If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

To be free indeed is to be really free. Really free as God has defined freedom and that freedom demands our lives being led as servants or slaves of the Lord.

Romans 6:20,21:
For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.
²¹ What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.

When we think of a prisoner, we think of shackles, handcuffs and restraints. After receiving the revelation of the mystery the Apostle Paul referred to himself as a prisoner.

Romans 1:1:
Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,

Philemon 1:1:
Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy our brother, unto Philemon our dearly beloved, and fellow labourer,

Titus 1:1:
Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness;

Ephesians 4:1:
I therefore, the prisoner

love u,
Shirley La Fave

From: Dr. Johnson Cherian <johnsonsharona@yahoo.com>
To: FamilyofGod@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Friday, July 3, 2009 4:29:17 AM
Subject: [FamilyofGod] Simple Thoughts On Promises- 102

Simple Thoughts On Promises- 102

He has taken me to the banquet hall, and his banner over me is love. (Song of Solomon 2:4)

Do you believe that the love that Jesus has for you is much much greater than the love that the woman here had for her lover?
God says,"I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness. (Jeremiah 31:3)

Everlasting love can come only from an everlasting God. The Bible says,
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

The Apostle Paul writing to the Ephesians says,
And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:17-19)

The love that Jesus has for you is one that surpasses knowledge and if you have to really grasp how wide, long, high and deep it is, you would need more than a lifetime.

Yes, Jesus loves you, much more than you can ever imagine, much more than you can ever grasp. In fact, the banner that he's held over you is the banner of love. God bless you.